According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services website, according to the U.S., as of Monday, the United States has delivered more than half a million monoclonal antibody drugs to states to treat used non-hospitalized Covid-19 patients.
Since the therapies received an emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in November, the department said it delivered 454,087 Eli Lilly treatment courses and 96,923 Regeneron cocktail courses.
Both treatments are authorized for people over the age of 12, with a high risk of progressing to a severe form of Covid-19. Both were shown to reduce hospital visits or Covid-19-related emergencies.
It is unclear how many of the distributed antibody treatments have actually been used; it is not posted by HHS or tracked on status boards. Health officials have said they are not used enough; in Michigan, for example, less than 10 percent of the available treatments with Covid-19 monoclonal antibodies have been used, Dr. William Fales, medical director of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, said last week.
Treatments are complicated to administer, in part because hospitals or infusion centers need to create a separate space to treat patients.